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Mary Lynn Jones

Mary Lynn F. Jones is a Washington-based writer. Her work has also appeared in The Chicago Tribune, National
Journal, the Washington Business Journal and Barron's Guide to the Most
Competitive Colleges. A native Washingtonian, Jones has been a regular
political commentator for WMAL-AM and has made numerous radio and television
appearances, including on National Public Radio's "Talk of the Nation"
and Fox
News Channel. Mary Lynn received her master's degree in journalism from
Columbia University and her bachelor's degree from Wellesley College.

Recent Articles

Flouted Convention

Mary Lynn JonesJan 21, 2004

There are plenty of people eating crow today as pundits, pollsters and politicians who had predicted a Howard Dean victory in Iowa realized just how far off they were. But all of the signs that political experts usually rely on had suggested a Dean win. That means experts should throw out conventional wisdom as they look ahead to the New Hampshire primary next week.

The Iowa caucuses have traditionally been about organizational strength. By that standard, Dean and Dick Gephardt should have placed better than third and fourth, respectively. Dean had college students and other volunteers in his camp (think of the success of his Meetup groups). And Gephardt relied on his labor base. One possible explanation, then, is that their supporters got lost on the way to the caucuses.

Come Together

Mary Lynn JonesJan 12, 2004

Democrats need to stick to their guns on Capitol Hill. As lawmakers and political observers have suggested -- and as a recent numerical analysis by CQ Weekly confirmed -- Congress is at its most partisan level in decades (except, perhaps, for the 1995 session after Republicans took over Capitol Hill). In the Senate, Republicans voted with their party on 94 percent of votes; Democrats voted along party lines 85 percent of the time. In the House, Republicans held ranks on 91 percent of votes; Democrats did the same 87 percent of instances.

New Fear

Mary Lynn JonesJan 06, 2004

It's a new year, but Republicans in Washington are using the same screwy logic as ever.

President Bush's fiscal year 2005 budget will once again be in the red, this time to the tune of at least $450 billion, according to Sunday's New York Times. While defense and homeland-security spending will rise, Bush plans to curb the growth in outlays on many domestic programs, such as housing vouchers for the poor, job training and research at the National Institutes of Health. The move is aimed at pleasing fiscal conservatives, who are irate over the new $400 billion Medicare program.

History Lessons

Mary Lynn JonesDec 29, 2003

It's almost the new year, which means that the pre-primary presidential campaign is just about over and that the real race to the White House is set to begin. But before we bid adieu to 2003, let's look back at some of the lessons we've learned from the 2004 Democratic contenders.

Embed Rest

Mary Lynn JonesDec 15, 2003

During a radio show on which I appeared Friday, a caller said he was upset that ABC News had decided to stop assigning embedded reporters to the presidential campaigns of Carol Moseley Braun, Dennis Kucinich and Al Sharpton. My question is: Why?

I understand that it's important to hear from all nine presidential candidates so that voters can make informed decisions before next month's Iowa caucus and New Hampshire primary. But Braun, Kucinich and Sharpton have been little more than entertaining sidekicks in the campaign so far and haven't proved themselves worthy of significant press attention.

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